Sunday, October 21, 2012

Tummy Time Alternative

I'm sure that many of you have tried to push through "tummy time" only to end up frustrated in the end. Since everyone is encouraged to follow the "Back To Sleep" campaign, most babies these days HATE being on their tummies! It's like torture for both mom and baby. I know that I am lucky to get 2-3 minutes of tummy time before Ziva has a meltdown. And who wants to do something that you know is going to result in a meltdown??? I know that she needs to be on her belly so that she can learn to crawl. She won't be able to crawl without developing those little muscles of her. So, what is a mama to do? Enter the balance/stability ball. As adults, we are all to familiar with these lovely things that, if used properly and regularly, give you a great core work out.

Zayit, Ziva and I were playing in our upstairs playroom when it occurred to me that there was a great alternative to the torture of tummy time. We have a ball that Zayit plays with that is roughly 1/2 the size of our balance ball and it is just the right size for Ziva! She can stand with her legs apart and knees bent and use it to balance herself - sometimes even letting go for a couple seconds. She also LOVES to be on her belly on this thing! SCORE! We have been using it to put all those tummy time muscles to good use. It is helping with her strength and balance. She loves to be rolled all around on it and she is now able to compensate when I push the ball in a different direction. It's so fun to watch her develop without any tears! YAY!

Look at that head... held nice and high!

She stands and uses the ball for support. Here I am nudging the ball to the side and she is pushing back.

Sometimes I hold on to her feet while she leans forward to try and grab a toy in front of her.

Tummy time doesn't have to be torture... you can find other ways to use the same muscles and have fun!

7 comments:

We did so many exercises on a balance ball with William trying to strengthen his core. One of his favorites was him sitting on the ball, us holding onto his thighs slowly rolling the ball a little side to side or front to back. He had to constantly adjust his center of gravity and got a good workout in.

Elena... We will have to try sitting on the ball. I bet she will love that! I have been focused on the tummy because she still isn't getting her belly up off the ground. It will give us something new and fun to do tomorrow while we all go stir crazy from Storm Sandy!

i think its absolutely wonderful that you have found an alternative to hideous tummy time. I don't think its true that babies need to be forced to spend time on their tummy to learn how to crawl. If you think about how much stomach muscles are used trying to sit up or roll from your back they get just as much strengthening from that position and arm and leg strength can be gained by pulling and pushing. My son rarely spent any time on his front and was an amazing crawler. I think tummy time is over rated. But well done for seeking alternatives rather than just taking the lazy option like me and not bothering.

Thank you so much for featuring us on your blog! I think that tummy time is important to a certain extent for natural gross motor development but you have to find what works best for your family. I'm glad your son was able to conquer crawling without it. My little Ziva is likely going to be one of those kids that goes straight to walking. Thanks again!

Mine was opposite, she absolutely HATED being on her back and LOVED tummy time!!! I had a really hard time keeping her on her back to sleep!Before I got pregnant, I took care of a little girl that had had ZERO tummy time in her short 9 month life, before changing caretakers (we were just her babysitters)! As a result, she could not look up!!! Her neck and back muscles never developed properly from sitting in a carrier for 18 hours a day for 9 months! I learned QUICKLY how important, and potentially painful, tummy time could be! Nobody cared about her being able to CRAWL at that point...we just wanted her to be able to be semi-normal in development. There was a LOT of screaming from her new stretching regimen but we kept with it and after 2 months she could lift her head up off the floor and we all called it a triumph!!!A smaller one of these balls was part of her routine and it worked wonders!!!

About Me

Living the American Dream... Happily married to an amazing husband and loving daddy, raising 2 wonderful munchkins and loving every minute of it! I am lucky enough that I work part time and the rest of my time is spent learning and playing with My Littles. What an adventure each day is!